Appearance: Pours a pretty, cloudy, deep, dark, mahogany color with a finger of white-colored head that dissolved away into a thin lacing of foam that partially covered the top of the beer. Surprisingly, there are a lot of particulates and sediments floating in the beer. Is that normal?

Aroma: Pretty nice aromas of bready, toasted malt and dried stone fruit, such as raisins, prunes, figs and dates, mingled with some brown sugar and toffee.

Taste: Very nice! Strong flavors of bready, toasted malt up front, followed by some strong flavors of dried stone fruit, such as raisins, prunes, figs and dates, followed by some toffee, dark molasses, and brown sugar-like sweetness, as well as by some honey-roasted peanut nuttiness. Finally, the beer finishes with a slightly vinegary sourness. Delicious!

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied to slightly chewy, and pretty smooth, as there is very little carbonation. With an ABV of 8.2%, there is just a touch of an alcohol warmth on the palate.

Overall: This is a damn good, American version of a German Doppelbock! It has great flavors of bready, toasted malt, dried stone fruit, sweetness, nuttiness and slight sourness, which nicely stood up to 4 years of aging! The only knock I have against this specific beer is the floating sediment/particulates. I’m not sure if that is normal or an unfortunate side-effect of being aged for 4 years.